Chapter 38

Gavin’s POV

Gavin felt like he couldn’t even move. He couldn’t have heard her correctly.

Susanna couldn’t have been pregnant. He hasn’t touched her in over a month; he would have known by now if she was actually pregnant.

No.

Something doesn’t add up.

Susanna was manipulative and would do anything to get what she wanted; he knew that much. There was no way she was pregnant.

“As I said, you should talk to her,” Erin said as she turned away.

Gavin knew there was nothing he could do to get her to stay with him; he watched as she walked toward her car, disappearing through the shadows.

He came here to tell her that he was going to end things with Susanna once and for all but it looked like he wasn’t going to get that chance.

The feeling he had at that moment was the same feeling he had the night Erin broke up with him.

She also had the same look on his face.

He had really fucked up this time.

…

Erin’s POV

I couldn’t look at him.

Why did it hurt this badly?

I knew things with Gavin and me were over long ago. The few times we’ve had passionate moments were the last and I accepted that at the time. But the thought of him with another woman, having her children, marrying her, it hurt more than words could describe.

If I stayed there any longer then I would start blubbering in front of him and I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. I had to keep walking away before I said or did something I would regret.

When I got home, Henry was surprisingly waiting for me. I didn’t think he would be here despite our fight in the restaurant.

I honestly thought he’d still be with Susanna. Yet, he stood in front of me with a and a sad look in his eyes.

“I don’t like how we left things,” he said as I approached him.

I didn’t like it either, but my conversation with Gavin was still fresh in my mind. I couldn’t face another conflict right now.

“I’m tired,” I managed to say. “Can we talk about this in the morning?”

“Why are taking the news of this pregnancy so hard, Erin?” Henry stopped me by saying. “If you don’t care for him, then why do you care so much if Susanna is pregnant?”

“He was my mate,” I said bitterly. “He was the one the goddess had chosen for me. I’m allowed to be upset.”

“And what am I?”

“You were supposed to be my partner,” I hissed, turning to face him.

“I want more than a partnership. I always did. I love you, Erin.”

“Don’t do this, Henry,” I seethed through my teeth. “You kept something important from me and I don’t know if I trust you…”

“I’m not the only one who was lying to you,” he said in return. “Gavin is the one who got her pregnant. Gavin is the one who has lied to you.”

“Gavin might be a lot of things, but he wouldn’t lie to me. He didn’t know she was pregnant.”

“Susanna said she spoke to him already. He lied to you, Erin…”

“Shut up,” I growled; all I could see at that moment was red.

I felt nothing but fury and I didn’t want anything to do with Henry or Susanna right now.

I just wanted to go to bed.

Henry reached his arm out toward me to grab me, but I jerked away before he could get a steady grip.

“Do not touch me,” I said firmly. “I can’t do this right now.”

I turned away without another word and slammed the door of our room shut. I wasn’t going to let him in our bedroom tonight; he could sleep on the couch for all I cared.

“You love Gavin,” Emily breathed, sadly. “It’s evident in your tone. You love him so much that you are in this much pain. Why can’t you be honest with yourself, dear?”

I hated myself for thinking about it this much.

In my mind’s eye, I could see Emily bowing her head low. She was in distress because of our mate; she was saddened by the recent events, and I didn’t blame her.

I curled up in bed, pressing my legs close to my chest.

All I wanted was to be a normal woman; I wanted to live a seemingly boring and normal life and now everything was all messed up.

Could this be my fault too?

It seemed like everything was my fault lately.

I heard my phone going off quite a few times during the night. I didn’t have to look at it to know who it was.

There wasn’t anything Gavin could say that could make me feel any better at this point.

Whatever fantasies I had of him were gone; he was no longer the same man I knew back then. He was somebody I didn’t want to know anymore. He was somebody I needed to let go.

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be lying in bed and crying over him,” Emily reminded me.

She was right. I shouldn’t have been lying in bed and crying over someone like him.

I sat up, feeling groggy and disgusting after spending the entire night sobbing.

Henry probably heard me for most of the night; I’m surprised he didn’t intervene.

“I don’t trust Susanna…” Emily said in my ear. “Remember when she announced her engagement that never happened?”

I did remember that; Gavin was furious with her and broke up with her. But then Henry erased her memories when she caught me using my powers.

“That doesn’t mean she’s lying about the pregnancy too,” I retorted, shaking my head.

“It doesn’t mean she’s not.”

That was true; she could be lying about being pregnant to trap Gavin into a relationship.

Is that something that Henry would know about? Wouldn’t he need to know for sure if she was pregnant before taking her on as a client in a custody battle? Why would she even need a custody battle if she’s planning on spending her life with Gavin anyways?

Now that I was more level-headed and the sun was rising for the day, I started to question and poke holes in Susanna’s story.

Something wasn’t adding up with her.

How did Gavin not know about this pregnancy?

As an Alpha wolf, wouldn’t he be able to smell it on her?

“Why would Henry bring Susanna to your place of work to talk to her when he knew what it would do to you?” Emily asked.

“He already admitted that it was wrong of him to do that,” I said to her.

“Why would he want to hurt you like that?”

She was upset; I knew this. I could feel her growing anger.

“Henry claims to love you… why would he want you in this much pain?”

“You don’t think they planned this together, do you?” I asked.

I didn’t need her to answer for me to know what she was thinking; a knot formed in my stomach as I pressed my lips together.

I knew, at that point, what I needed to do.

I needed to be wary of Henry and investigate Susanna.